Where did July Go?

Since Rebecca's arrival, she has been running three days a week for up to 2 miles, then stops for a drink and then I join her for another 1.5-2 miles. This is good for me since she 'encourages' me to run faster than I might otherwise run. Then she goes out with Callie and Marian on their couch to 5 k program. But this past week, Marian has run with us; actually she runs faster than us for about 2 miles. She has the potential to be a good distance runner in my opinion, given the proper training.

Monday morning, Sandy's friend, Tanya, spent a couple of hours sorting through Mom's horse accessories and loading them into her car.  She will find good homes for the saddles, tack and other items. And she organized that shed so it really looks neat and clean!  Thank you Tanya!

Tuesday Tom, Rebecca and Miranda and family did Silver Dollar City. The children had a great time splitting off with others who wanted to do the easy rides, the roller coasters and 'I'll stick with mom' groups. The weather wasn't beastly hot and a fun time was had by all.

Here are Alex and Camden at the bakery ready to hit the rides:

Sarah spent the week with us and is demonstrating her unique abilities at SDC:

Rebecca was strapping into the Time Travel ride with a couple of her girls when she noticed two young women who looked a lot like two of her nieces. And it was! Turned out that Isabelle, Miriam and David came after their dental appointments. So we had a brief visit with them before heading home.

And here is our hero:

Of course we had to stop at Andy's Frozen Custard (it is on the way home) for some light refreshment. A good friend watched Rachel and Tanya stayed with Mom while we were gone.

Tanya left early Wednesday morning and I had an appointment with a realtor about listing one of our rent houses. Once the tenant moves out the end of this month, I will need to repaint the interior and we will get it on the market. Mom announced in the afternoon that she wanted to go to Long John Silver's restaurant for fish that night.  So that is where we had dinner. They are also connected with A&W root beer, so I had two mugs of their delicious brew with my meal.  And she actually ate more than me!

Mom had her weekly visit with Clifford on Thursday. Rebecca did the chauffeuring, since this gave her an opportunity to shop at Salvation Army and check out the local furniture store. Mom wants to replace the 20 year old sleeper sofa downstairs with an electric recliner couch. She found one. So later in the day we drove over to check out the options and ended up buying one that Sandy likes. It will get delivered next week.

By the time we returned home from shopping Cynthia and Jim were arriving. We neglected to provide them much needed information about driving in Arkansas:  1st, we should have sent them directions to our house; 2nd, we did not tell them google or sirius are not always accurate; 3rd, you can expect intermittent phone service. They got to see more of northern Arkansas than they had planned on.

Friday, Sandy had her port removed. While it served a useful purpose when receiving infusions or having IV's, those things are in the past. Besides, it was uncomfortable for her. We were in and out in about an hour. And she has had no negative reactions or pain.

Prior to family visiting this week, I was busy stripping wall paper from the upstairs bathroom and repainting the walls. All the fixtures were gold colored; so they needed updating. On the way home from Silver Dollar City, we stopped at Menards to get new towel rods and a hand held shower that are brushed nickel. I was able to get the bath done with the exception of where the washer/dryer are located. That will have to wait for another day.

Saturday, the church youth had a temple trip in St Louis. Rebecca and her three oldest and myself drove up separately. There were 27 there, many with their parents. It was amazing to me to see them performing most of the functions that only a short time ago only adults go do. The girls had a good time. We stopped at Costco to spend money to justify our annual membership fee and then had dinner at 5 Guys; Rebecca had that on her bucket list. We were home about 9 pm.

Today we heard some awesome testimonies in reference to the atonement of Christ and the value of having a stable testimony. Cynthia and Jim joined us for services. And now Cynthia is preparing her favorite bread recipe for us.

On the light side, this is what happens when Rylee gets a hold of your phone:

Callie has adopted the eight orphaned chicks; she feeds them bugs and grain by hand; they come running whenever she is outside. And she has trained them to hop into her lap or on her arm. You might even see her with one on her head or shoulder.

Sandy continues to maintain her normal activities. One good note is that she has gained a couple of pounds this week. We feel loved and pampered!